Stories

Delivered by Mr Chan Poh Meng
Principal, Raffles Institution

23 July 2016

A very good morning to


Mr Desmond Lee, Senior Minister of State with the Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of National Development
Mr Choo Chiau Beng, Chairman of the RI Board of Governors,
Members of the Board of Governors
Mrs Poh Mun See, Principal of Raffles Girls' School (Secondary)
Mr Fabian Yeo, Chairman of the Raffles Parents’ Association
Distinguished guests, colleagues, parents, and fellow Rafflesians.

 

A REVIEW OF 2015/16
1    Last year, in my Founder’s Day Speech, I invited Rafflesians, both students and staff to engage our community in more of our activities and I am glad that many of our staff and students have responded to this call. I would like to share with you some of the more meaningful projects that our students have embarked on.

2    In February, the Community Advocates, CLDDS, Cricket and Basketball teams partnered the school’s Estate and PE Departments in a project called ‘Homeground’. They put together a Carnival as way of showing their appreciation for the service personnel – both local and foreign - who work so hard to keep our school clean and running smoothly – our gardeners, janitors and other Estate staff. Students from Year 1 to 6 ran a series of activities that included cricket, basketball, drawing, modified bowling, calligraphy and lantern-making, and the event ended with a lo hei for everyone involved. I was very happy to see different parts of the school coming together to do something wonderful for an often-overlooked segment of our school population.

3    As part of the Raffles Leadership Programme, our Year 3s undergo a one-term stint at Boarding that culminates in a Community Outreach effort. Earlier this year, with the guidance of the Raffles Leadership Institute’s specialists, our boys helped to clean and paint thirty household rental units as well as two Senior Activity Centres in the Central region of Singapore.

4    And just four weeks ago, 21 Secondary 3 students from four of our fellow cluster schools – Whitley, Bishan Park, Guangyang and Peirce, joined the latest run of the Raffles Leadership Programme, on what we are calling the South 7 Joint Residential Leadership Programme. They will be joining our students in Boarding, learning to live independently from their parents and adapt well to their roommates.

5    This collaboration is possible thanks to the cluster support and the respective schools’ Principals and teachers. I believe that it will bring about a great deal of useful learning for all the students involved, and also strengthen the bonds between our schools. This, of course, is only the beginning. We hope to turn this pilot programme into a permanent fixture, and in time, include more schools island-wide in our Joint Residential Leadership Programme.

6    Our RI String Ensemble has also gotten in on the act. They invited upper primary school students to join them for three of their rehearsal sessions, as part of a special outreach camp. This camp, meant to inspire budding string musicians and promote excellence in their chosen instruments, culminated in a joint concert. One of the primary school participants wrote to me, thanking our school for providing his sister and himself with a special experience, sharing that ‘despite having passed the ABRSM Grade 7 examinations, this is the first time that my sister and I have been able to perform in an ensemble of this size. We really appreciate RISE for giving us this experience and opportunity.’

7    I know many other Rafflesians are also engaging our society very actively in their own ways. I apologise for not being able to mention all of your activities, but I do urge you to keep doing the good work that you have done.

8    A school annual report is never complete without a mention, even if brief, of student achievements. I am, therefore, happy to report that our Class of 2015 distinguished themselves with an exceptional performance at the GCE A-Levels. 344 students or 28% of the cohort obtained a perfect University Admissions Score of 90. In addition, 205 students achieved distinctions in all subjects offered, including H3 subjects.

9    In Sports, our teams brought home 66 medals across all divisions in 2015, with this year’s tally currently standing at 65 at this moment. 12 of our athletes received the Singapore Schools Sports Council Best School Boy & Girl Awards. In addition, 58 of our athletes also represented Singapore at various international sports meets. Our bowler, Joey Yeo, was also crowned Sportsgirl of the Year at the 2016 Singapore Sports Awards.

10    Our Uniformed Groups also did the school proud: the 01 and 02 Scouts both achieved the Gold Pennant Award for the Scout and Venture Units, completing a 5-year streak of Gold awards. The Boys Brigade and Red Cross were also awarded Gold for the J M Fraser Award for Excellence and Excellent Unit Award respectively, while our Red Cross teams bagged Gold and Silver awards at the 2016 National First Aid Competition.

11    In the area of Arts and Aesthetics, our students staged over 19 events at the 2016 ARTSeason, RI’s annual arts festival. Five of our students also received a Certificate of Recognition for Visual Arts at this year’s SYF Art Festival, with two obtaining Certificates of Recognition with Special Mentions. Raffles Players also clinched an SYF Distinction with their staging of The Coffin Is Still Too Big For The Hole.

12    Beyond the numbers lie many individual stories of tenacity, personal growth and Rafflesian spirit. This is something I want to stress, because sometimes just mentioning the numbers can feel so reductive and cold when in fact we value all Rafflesians and their efforts big and small. They are wonderful when they win and accomplish something, but are equally wonderful when they don’t, wonderful for having tried.

MEANING AND PURPOSE
13    This Founders’ Day, I would like to share with you some personal reflections on the issue of meaning and purpose in the context of education. In interacting with students over the last 30 years as a teacher and educator, I’ve often heard students tell me that they’re not certain about their life direction, and that they face a serious lack of time and opportunities for reflection. Instead, they’re constantly doing things and chasing accomplishments, without really knowing why they’re doing what they’re doing, or feeling particularly connected to it, or motivated at a deep level. What strikes me, though, is the frequency and intensity of the questions that I’m hearing of late – it would seem that the issue has become much more pressing.

14    Understandably, many students are often driven by a great deal of pragmatism: take the course that is most popular, choose the school or university that will look the best on one’s CV, embark on a career that will provide the highest returns.

15    Underlying all this is a drive for security and social standing. As a result, we place intense demands on ourselves to be ‘successful’, not just by our own standards but by our society’s standards. This might perhaps account for the rise of tuition and enrichment centres, the ultra-packed schedules that so many Singaporean parents plan for their children and the demand for Direct School Admission places. As a society, we feel that the stakes have become higher, and thus there is a need to stand out, to self-differentiate by accumulating credentials at an ever-younger age, to start building one’s CV from as early as pre-school. What’s at work here is what is called triangular desire: too many of us want something because we see that other people want it, and therefore assume that it must be valuable. When questions of purpose and meaning are shunted aside, we may begin to chase what everyone else deems important, because we have not learned to ask and answer questions for ourselves. When we don’t grapple with the issue of what is personally meaningful, there is a danger that we default to society’s general notions of ‘success’ to guide us.

16    There is a darker side to those pursuits when they are pursued too exclusively and intensely, without a sense of balance. Beneath the serene façade that many students and young people show the world, it seems to me that there lies a deep anxiety. Students who have never experienced anything but success would find the prospect of not being successful terrifying.

17    What follows is a deep aversion to risk. Having no margin for error, we try to avoid the possibility that we will ever make an error. And the sad consequence is that such students deprive themselves of the joy of learning. In its place we find anxiety, risk aversion, a fear of failing, envy, cynicism. Yet, surely the purpose of life should not become the gathering of gold stars, or a relentless quest to build a super CV. It should not be a case of ‘focusing on getting things done, and then immediately after that rushing to key that into the Achievements Portal.’

18    Please don’t get me wrong. I am not saying go pursue your life calling because credentials and money do not matter. Of course jobs matter, financial security matters, national prosperity matters. But: are they the only things that matter? Many of us, young and old, may know in our hearts and minds that these cannot be the ONLY things that matter but our actions, often seem, otherwise. Life is more than a job; jobs are more than paychecks, a country is so much more than its material wealth.

19    We frequently talk about national competitiveness, the labour force of tomorrow, the skills upgrading that must take place, and the outlook for our future prosperity. Deep thinking must always undergird such discussions; the assumptions that underlie this conversation must be questioned and reflected upon.

20    Let us examine those assumptions and beliefs carefully – are they serving us, are they accurate? What would it be like to make shifts in some of those beliefs? At the end of the day, the important question we have to engage with is – what is the purpose of school? As William Deresiewicz points out in his book Excellent Sheep, your education, your time in school is more than the acquisition of marketable skills, and you are more than your ability to contribute to your employer’s bottom line or the nation’s GDP. To ask what school is for is to ask what life is for, what society is for – what people are for.

THE REFLECTIVE RAFFLESIAN
21    If we had to find some antidote to this frantic pursuit of credentials, I would venture that it lies in taking time out. It lies in taking the time to slow down, to reflect and gain perspective, to break the cycle of mindless achievement. It lies in taking time to ask ourselves those questions:

· What is it that I’m really good at and enjoy doing most?
· What is my purpose, vocation or calling in life?
· What are my ideals and dreams?

22    To my students, I would say - allow yourself the chance to see that there’s a world outside school, there are many people in different life circumstances from you, allow yourself the chance to get to know yourself. I know it sounds cliché, but taking time out will make you a strikingly different person. Fuller, more independent, more present in your life.

23    We have tried to create something like that here in RI already, with the Year 4 Gap Semester and the Year 5 Monday Electives. These programmes, while good, aren’t sufficient – the stakes are limited, and the range of options relatively small. Reflection needs to occur more regularly within and beyond programmes; it should take place throughout a student’s time. Beginning to find your own sense of purpose and meaning involves thinking about a long series of questions that you can start to answer only when you do it.

Rafflesians, please give yourself that gift of time. Some form of waste, some form of sacrifice will be necessary and good. Again, as William Deresciewicz says, waste is not waste, just as ‘practicality’ is not practical if it takes you somewhere that makes you deeply unhappy.

THE REFLECTIVE SCHOOL
24    As a school, however, we should not stop at the level of individual solutions. We have to ask ourselves as a Rafflesian community – what is our responsibility to our young people? If we as teachers, educators, parents and alumni have figured out for ourselves useful ways of approaching the big questions of meaning and purpose, then how do we impart that to our young collectively? What advice can we offer them?

25    Books, ideas, works of art and thought, other people around you that are looking for their own answers – these are all opportunities to make you question everything you thought you knew about yourself. Chances to figure out, as the Columbia historian Mark Lilla puts it – ‘just what it is that’s worth wanting.’ Occasions to start to answer for ourselves that age-old pair of questions – what is the good life, and how should I live it?

26    Ultimately, a good Singaporean education must lie beyond getting our young people that sterling set of results. It occurs when we are teaching them to form informed opinions, and helping them become comfortable and confident in their own skins. We know that they are well-educated when they are able to make their own decisions and stand up for their choices, rather than be swept along with the flow.

27    A good education happens when we equip our students to address the larger questions of meaning and purpose, about their education and their lives. And of course, a good education needs dedicated teachers, staff, stakeholders and partners. This morning, we are presenting 14 Long Service Awards, for years ranging from 20 to 30, to teachers and staff, as well as two Service to Education Awards (Ministry of Education) to two BOG members, Mr Hoong Bee Lok and Dr Stanley Lai. Additionally, we would also like to extend our gratitude to the awardees of the friend of RI award, Mr Hoo Chuan Yang, Da Qiao Primary School as well as the Malay Language Learning And Promotion Committee. All our Awardees exemplify the qualities of dedicated service and commitment.

28    I would also like to acknowledge all the good and hard work of all RI teachers, specialists and non-teaching staff. Over the past year, you have given much to the betterment of the school, ensuring that RI remains relevant in a rapidly changing education scene. Together, tirelessly, you have asked searching questions not only about quality teaching and learning, but the kind of values and character that Rafflesians must have. You have weathered much and borne witness to the school’s highs and lows. You have made adjustments and adaptions in times of need; and sought out opportunities to reinvent and innovate for the sake of the students and the future of the school. For this, you deserve a big round of applause.

29    We will continue to think precisely, patiently and responsibly. To live more alertly, more freely, more fully. These are my larger goals as an educator, and I hope that you, my colleagues, parents and my students, will stand with me on this.

30    To our Chairman and members of the RI Board of Governors, our dedicated staff, the old Rafflesians Association, the Raffles Parents’ Association, RGS and our alumni – thank you for your unfailing support for the cause of a good education in RI. Thank you for keeping the school’s colours flying in the past year. Let us continue to do so purposefully and reflectively in the year ahead.

Auspicium Melioris Aevi